Har Gobind Khorana – the Nobel laureate we forgot

Dr Har Gobind Khorana’s discovery related to the sequence of RNA won him the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1968 and paved the path for major advances in genetic engineering. Upon his death last week, the scientific community paid him rich tribute though in the land of his birth, he has barely been remembered.

Shy and unassuming, Khorana was known to be uncomfortable speaking on the phone. The story goes that he had to be tracked down after several calls and messages from the White House went unattended. That was 1987, and Khorana was being approached by the highest office in the United States to be informed that he had won the prestigious National Medal of Science. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American ... more

Shy and unassuming, Khorana was known to be uncomfortable speaking on the phone. The story goes that he had to be tracked down after several calls and messages from the White House went unattended. That was 1987, and Khorana was being approached by the highest office in the United States to be informed that he had won the prestigious National Medal of Science. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. less